Five centuries ago, a witch cursed the trolls so the would be trapped in their city beneath the Forsaken Mountain. The humans who knew about the trolls have long since disappeared and they’re nothing more than a myth. So when Cécile is kidnapped and brought to the city of Trollus as a part of a prophecy to undo the curse, she has no idea what to expect. Her only plan involves escaping her fate. Until she starts to fall for the troll prince she’s bonded to and comes to care for some of the trolls. The more she learns of secret rebellions, half-blood trolls treated as slaves, the past and what happened around the time of the curse, the more she wants to help.

This was an extremely enjoyable read. The characters were great, the world-building was detailed, the plot twisted, and it was really hard to put down.

Cécile was a character I really liked. She has common sense, she fights for what she wants and believes in, she knows her flaws and can admit to making mistakes. She’s not perfect and she’s not portrayed as such. She was compassionate even though was she kidnapped by the trolls. Tristan took a little longer to like but the more that was revealed about him and the more he and Cécile bantered, I found myself enjoying him. There were so many side characters I really loved as well. The twins were hilarious and I wish we’d gotten to see a little more of them, Cécile’s maids were great, but Marc really stood out from all of them. I would love to see more of his story.

The romance is definitely more slow-build than anything else. No insta-love to be found here. It was really sweet getting to see how they came to care for each other.

The world that was created seemed amazing. The descriptions were vivid and really sounded like a place that could take my breath away at the sight. The development of the world was really solid. There was a royal family and their version of government, glimpses at past rulers and how the city became to be today, job regulations, trading posts, so many things to make it complete. I would have liked to have more information on the troll’s magic and its limits.

The book is told in two different POVs, Cécile and Tristan, but there was a lot more Cécile than Tristan. As much as I enjoyed getting to discover Trollus with Cécile, a few more times in Tristan’s POV to get a better feel for the world would have been nice.

This book was definitely a great surprise. Any reservation about the synopsis(possible special character Mary Sue, insta-love, whiny female protagonist) were put to rest and I enjoyed it. I look forward to the sequel, coming way, way too many months away.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.